By Frank Schwichtenberg – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Nita Strauss, one of the most badass guitarists in the world today, comes in with an even grander spectacle for her second full-length solo LP. Or perhaps, it isn’t that solo.
Now, with a full lineup of some of the biggest names in rock and metal by her side, she has opened up the floodgates to a broader audience, even though she has been making waves for years already.
It is a departure from her debut, “Controlled Chaos”, where she captured all of the magic by herself.
Strauss still shines on “Call of the Void” with multiple instrumental-only tracks as one would expect from her. This includes “Summer Storm”, “Consume the Fire”, “Scorched”, “Momentum”, “Kintsugi”, and “Surfacing” featuring Marty Friedman of Megadeth fame.
All of these tracks provide a unique experience of different influences that all rock and metal fans should enjoy.
Track-by-Track
“Summer Storm” kicks off the record with a blast befitting the song’s name. It starts slow, then quickly moves into a fiery riff. Then, the song turns into a shred fest, with tasty solos and a signature Nita Strauss breakdown to end it.
We then move into the featured vocals that accompany Nita for the next three songs. The first is “The Wolf You Feed” with the amazing and recognizable screams and cleans from Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy. This truly sounds like a gateway to Arch Enemy’s sound and allows both Nita and Alissa to showcase their talents as one cohesive unit.
Next up is “Digital Bullets” with Chris Motionless of Motionless in White. This is clearly Nita’s response to all the criticism and unnecessary hate she receives online because apparently, she isn’t a great guitar player. Well, that’s a bunch of garbage. The industrial influence and computer-esc sound portray the feeling that the people online who hate for clout or just to validate themselves are losers, especially if they say dumb shit without any actual knowledge.
Lzzy Hale of Halestorm then provides her vocal prowess on “Through The Noise”. Lzzy’s voice is always a welcome addition to any song and such is the case here.
Now would be a great time to mention how Nita can basically adapt to any vocalist and their influence on the track. I said that “The Wolf You Feed” was like a gateway to Arch Enemy’s sound. Well, almost every song with a featured vocalist on this album sounds like a gateway into their own band’s sound.
That’s a testament to how good Nita is as a guitarist. Her range is off the charts!
The album has even more big names including David Draiman, Dorothy, Anders Fridén, Alice Cooper, Marty Friedman, and Lilith Czar that round out the lineup with Strauss.
Hopefully, these collaborations will continue to help her get more well-earned attention in the future as she continues on upcoming projects.
She acts like a rockstar, and she should continue because she absolutely is a rockstar!